Three Mile Phil's French Connection

The issue over a plan to dump nuclear waste in Mississippi is just beginning to heat up. Let's connect a few dots, shall we?

Yesterday at the Capitol, a lobbyist for the Butler Snow law firm spoke before the Senate Economic Development Committee lauding the potential benefits that the nuclear dump plan could bring. As a reminder, former Governor Haley Barbour also works for this firm.

In June 2013, Governor Bryant and Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Brent Christensen flew to France to attend the Paris Air Show. This is the same MDA director who serves on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Energy Institute, the group pushing the plan to house nuclear waste in Mississippi.

There is also a representative from the French nuclear power company AREVA sitting on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Energy Institute. With the connections to the aforementioned firm in mind, one might ask if Barbour now lobbies for this company.

While Bryant and his entourage were having a good time in Paris sampling the French lifestyle, did they take a moment to consider how most of the lights are powered there? You may be surprised to find out it's nuclear power. France generates about 75 percent of its electricity needs from nuclear power.  Their nuclear waste has to go somewhere, right? Why not Mississippi?

During their trip to France, did Bryant and his MDA director negotiate a deal with the French government to house that country's nuclear waste?

Representatives from the Mississippi Energy Institute noted that they know of communities, that they did not specify, which are interested in this project. Were they referring to communities in France instead of Mississippi?